Pignora Prima
Damnaris nunquam post longum tempus amicum,
Mutavit mores, sed pignora prima memento.
Never condemn your friend of many a year:
If changed his ways, think how he once was dear.
(Duff)
(Duff)
Source: The Distichs of Cato (4th century), 4.41. Meter: Dactylic Hexameter. The pledges here, pignora, are the pledges of friendship; you can read about the many meanings of this fascinating Latin word here in the Lewis & Short Dictionary online.
The vocabulary is keyed to the DCC Latin Vocabulary list. There is only one word in this poem that is not on the DCC list:
pignus (pignoris, n.): pledge, token
amīcus -a -um: friendly; (as subst.) friend
damno -āre: condemn
longus -a -um: long, far; longē, far, far off
meminī meminisse: remember, recollect
mōs mōris m.: custom, habit; (pl.) character
mūto -āre: change
numquam: never
post: after (adv. and prep. +acc.)
prīmus -a -um: first
sed: but
tempus -oris n.: time
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